


Hibernating Rattlesnakes

by writteninhaste



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-25
Updated: 2014-08-25
Packaged: 2018-02-14 16:26:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2198715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writteninhaste/pseuds/writteninhaste
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"If I had my way we'd sleep every night all wrapped around each other like hibernating rattlesnakes." ~ William. S. Burroughs</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hibernating Rattlesnakes

Fear permeates the halls of the ISS  _Enterprise_. It is not heavy. The fear does not weigh like a sodden blanket or a strangling cloak. It does not press against the throat or chest or make it hard to breathe. No; it is more like perfume; a lingering mist that drifts and sparks the nostrils. Yes; anyone aboard the _Enterprise_  can smell the fear.   
  
Kirk rules his ship with terror and power and lust; the iron fist that wears the iron glove. Leonard McCoy feeds that cruelty with promises of pain; of poison and of agony and of the chance to bleed out upon a table whilst all around you doctors stand and stare. Bones is a gift of Southern savagery wrapped up in Southern sin, and Jim  _loves_  him for it.   
  
Kirk loves how when they walk the halls, the very air seems to vibrate in terror. He sees the danger in his crew; knows the risk he took in assembling so many vicious, grasping people all together. It is a delicate game he plays. Either Chekov or Sulu alone would be easy enough to deal with, but united they paint a deadly, pretty picture; Uhura has ambition and Spock’s protection makes her a constant, tantalising threat. Jim knows the Empire thinks him mad for gathering such Officers around him, like moths to a naked flame. And he would worry – were it not for Bones.   
  
The crew do not love Jim. He has Spock’s loyalty, and the way to Scotty’s heart is through the ship; his helmsman and his navigator can be bought, in turn, with threats or lethal gifts. But it is not a permanent solution. Captains can be replaced; indeed, Sulu coverts his chair openly each day. The  _Enterprise_  would not be sorry to lose Kirk. But they’ll be damned before they lose McCoy – the doctor who will keep you alive against all odds, if only because he is still a child who hates having his toys permanently confiscated.  
  
That is not to say that McCoy runs the ship behind a puppet Kirk. McCoy has no ambition of his own. He is the top of his field, he has no interest in the bureaucracy of an Academy assignment. He has no further up to go. McCoy is happy where he is. Kirk on the other hand is thirsty – with McCoy at his side Kirk might just be in a position to make himself the next Emperor. McCoy is loyal. Not to the ‘Fleet or the ship, but to Jim. McCoy’s loyalty is the kind that will make him start to save a man caught in a blast in Engineering and then stop – no questions asked – when Kirk tells him he’s wanted on the Bridge. McCoy does not breathe without Kirk’s permission, yet the Captain is smart enough to leave the reigns loose, to give McCoy his head. It’s a smart strategy; keeps McCoy from biting the hand that feeds him; keeps him in check. Lose the Doctor and the Captain would torture the one responsible to death. Lose the Captain, and … well; McCoy would happily sit back and watch the Empire burn were Jim no longer in it. They are a dangerous pair.   
  
And yet, the crew is safe aboard this ship. Kirk is possessive to the extreme. He will not willing relinquish what he sees as his – be it rank or crew or ship. The crew will stay aboard as long as Kirk deems them worthy of his possession; they will stay alive as long as they keep the Captain happy – McCoy  _knows_  when it is otherwise.   
  
And so the  _Enterprise_  for all the very air may seem to palpitate with fear, boasts the most efficient, skilful crew in all the Empire. The crew may hate Kirk for his tyranny, but they love him all the same. Because McCoy keeps them alive. And Kirk’s the only one who keeps Bones sane.


End file.
